A Dominican drug dealer who had previously been deported for peddling fentanyl was seen in tears after being arrested while illegally returning to the United States.
Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, 36, was sobbing when agents arrested her in Philadelphia last Wednesday, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On the same day that she was to be served with a notice of intent to reinstate a final removal order, a US magistrate judge issued a federal warrant for her arrest.
She will remain in federal custody pending charges of re-entry after deportation, the feds said.
Photos shared by ICE show the convicted drug dealer crying as she is led away in handcuffs.
“The arrest of Virginia Basora-Gonzalez demonstrates our commitment to protecting our communities from criminal aliens who engage in serious illegal activities that endanger public safety,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia acting Field Office Director Brian McShane.
“This successful joint operation exemplifies the collaborative efforts of federal law enforcement agencies to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and remove dangerous individuals from our streets.”
The teary-eyed drug dealer was living illegally in the US when the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested her in Pennsylvania in June 2019 for possessing 40 grammes or more of fentanyl and aiding and abetting.
She pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 12 months, one day in prison, and four years of supervised release, but ICE deported her to her home country, the Dominican Republic, in October 2020, before she could serve her sentence.
However, the convicted opioid dealer illegally re-entered the United States a second time on an unknown date.
ICE discovered she was back in the United States after a confidential source reported her arrival on March 7, 2025, according to an affidavit obtained by the Daily Mail.
Agents apprehended Basora-Gonzalez outside her workplace, La Tierra Del Caribe Restaurant in North Philadelphia, where she allegedly worked as a cook.
According to the affidavit, law enforcement confirmed her identity by searching the FBI fingerprint database.
Her court-appointed attorney argued that she should not be detained before her trial because being charged with illegal re-entry did not make her a flight risk.
The government responded by “cementing the conclusion that pretrial detention is required” based on her prior conviction.
